Burundi

2010

After
2006, Burundi's government and media relations seemed promising. The airwaves
had been open to private broadcasters for years; the president held frequent
press conferences, and the government commended the unified press for its
professional 2010 pre-election coverage. "The president had organized an open
dialogue with the press before the elections," Information Minister Concilie
Nibigira told CPJ. "It is the only country I know who would hold regular
meetings with the media."

Tags:

"They
like me in here," editor Jean-Claude Kavumbagu said of his fellow prisoners.
But sub-Saharan Africa's only jailed online journalist still pays protection
money to stay safe in Bujumbura's Mpimba Prison.

The Net Press editor has been here since police arrested him on July 17. He was charged with treason over an article that questioned the competence of Burundi's security services.

Tags:

Bujumbura, December 9, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists today called for the release of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbaguafter visiting him in prison in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura. CPJ made the call at a press conference marking the end of a four-day mission to Burundi.

CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney and East Africa Consultant Tom Rhodes met with Kavumbagu, at left, editor of the French-language news site Net Press, at Mpimba Prison on Wednesday for more than an hour.

New York, August 11,
2010--Burundian police on Tuesday arrested Thierry Ndayishimiye,chief editor of the private weekly Arc-en-Ciel, on defamation charges
related to a story about alleged government corruption. Ndayishimiye is the
second Burundian editor to be jailed in less than a month.

Tags:

New York, July 19, 2010—Burundian authorities’ arrest on Saturday of journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu on treason charges over commentary critical of the country’s security forces is alarming, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. He is being held in Mpimba prison in the capital, Bujumbura.

CPJ has joined with African press freedom groups to urge African leaders to end repression of the media as they celebrate 50 years since the end of colonial rule. We will publish a series of blogs this week by African journalists reflecting on the checkered history of press freedom over that period.

This year is the 50th anniversary of independence for many countries in sub-Saharan Africa from colonial powers France and Belgium. To mark the event, French President Nicholas Sarkozy has invited African leaders to Paris for the July 14Bastille Day celebrations. One thing that hasn’t changed much in the last half a century is that the presidents and prime ministers on the Champs Elysees reviewing stand can rest assured that media back home will dutifully report on their speeches and appearances.